Outreach projects get green nod

Greenpeace head Kumi Naidoo this week praised communities, including Phoenix, Chatsworth and Merebank, for their environmental outreach projects.

Naidoo, who heads the international environmental watchdog body, believes communities should challenge government on climate-change issues and get involved with local interventions to stem damage to the environment.

He delivered a lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on The Role of South African Higher Education in Greening the Revolution.

The former anti-apartheid activist was arrested in June for scaling the Arctic drilling oil rig Leiv Eriksson to hand over a petition of 50000 signatures from activists in 100 countries. He was released a few days later.

Speaking to a room filled with academics, environmentalists and the public on Wednesday, Naidoo warned that the planet was in peril, adding that people needed to change their environmental habits in light of climate-change effects.

He said the current weather patterns around the world were evident of climate change.

Naidoo said awareness was growing at local level in communities such as Phoenix, Merebank, Chatsworth and other areas in the country.

"I think we are seeing some really important work being done by teachers in schools. I have been impressed with the amount of environmental clubs in secondary schools throughout the country and that children teach their parents about recycling because they have learnt about it in school."

But awareness was still at a basic level and needed to expand, he added. Communities should, he said, look at local environmental interventions and get involved by challenging local government to improve recycling facilities, car-pooling to reduce emissions and ensuring that local (water) streams are not polluted.

His pleas to the public to adopt environmentally friendly habits come three months before the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) to be hosted in Durban in December.

The father of one, who is based in Amsterdam, said the country needed political momentum and support ahead of the conference.

Naidoo said it was up to universities to challenge the status quo and the thinking surrounding global problems.

"We are in a scary moment of history in which we don't know the answers (about the future of the planet) and, more importantly, we are not asking the right questions."

"We need to look at how graduates can be equipped with skills at policy levels and practical and technical levels."

He said countries that engaged in half-baked and false solutions to environmental problems, were addicted to coal, oil and gas. These compromised the world's economic future instead of looking for alternative solutions.

"Our continent is blessed with solar, wave, and wind potential but, as a country, we are not tapping into 1% of the renewable energy potential we have."

He said Durban had an opportunity during the conference later this year "to move things in a positive direction and give a boost to the upcoming conference".